the Fourth Week after Easter
Click here to learn more!
Daily Devotionals
Day by Day Devotional - Year 4 of 5
Luke 12:49-59; ; Luke 13:1-5
Until the "baptism" of His death, the Lord Jesus was "straitened" in His soul. The cross was necessary so that His love could be fully expressed and find its response in the heart of men.
His coming puts everything to the test. Amongst families previously united by their godlessness, He will be received by some, yet rejected by others. How many homes resemble the one described here (vv. 52, 53)!
Then the Lord speaks once more to the Jewish "hypocrites" . . . with a real love for their souls (v. 56). We should not be surprised by the hardness which His words sometimes assume. This attitude is dictated by the hardness of the heart of man. An iron hammer is needed to break the rock in pieces (Jeremiah 23:29).
Israel had incurred the wrath of God who had become their "adversary" (v. 58). But now God was in Christ, offering reconciliation to His people but they refused to accept it and to discern the signs of approaching judgment (v. 56). Today God is still offering reconciliation to every man before the moment when He will be met only as the unrelenting Judge (2 Corinthians 5:19).
In 13:1-5 the Lord Jesus makes mention of two recent and solemn events which He uses to encourage His hearers to repent. Let us be ready to seize the opportunities given to us to warn those around us.
